English Summary

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The Enemy Summary in English by Pearl S. Buck

The Enemy by Pearl S. Buck About the Author

Pearl S. Buck (26 June 1892 – 6 March 1973) was an American writer and novelist. She is also known by her Chinese name Sai Zhenzhu. In 1932, she won Pulitzer Prize for her novel ‘The Good Earth’. She was the first American woman to win the Nobel Prize in literature (1938) for her rich and truly epic description of peasants’ life in China and for her biographical masterpieces. She was a prominent advocate of the rights of women and the minority groups.

The Enemy Introduction to the Chapter

“The Enemy”, written by Pearl S. Buck is a heart-rending portrayal of the conflict between a man’s heart and mind. It tells us about how people can help enemies on human grounds. To hate our enemy is natural and justifiable, especially during wartime. This story beautifully depicts how a human being rises above : his prejudices to help a wounded enemy.

The Enemy Theme

In the chapter ‘The Enemy , the author stresses on the fact that humanity requires one to overcome prejudices and hatred especially against one’s enemies. Through this chapter, the author conveys the message that t nanism transcends all man-made prejudices and barriers.

The Enemy Summary in English

Dr Sadao and his wife, Hana stood outside their house. A man suddenly appears out of the ocean. They ran towards him. To their shock, he was an American prisoner of war, who was badly wounded and had become unconscious. Sadao is torn between his duty as a doctor and his loyalty towards Japan. As citizens having a sense of national loyalty, they felt it their duty to put the man back into the sea.

However, soon they rose above narrow prejudices and brought the man into their house. Even though they faced open defiance from their domestic staff, they looked after the man. They realised the risk inherent in harbouring an enemy. But Dr Sadao knew that he would not be arrested and condemned by the ruthless General as he himself might need his services any time for an operation. Sadao informed the ailing general about the enemy in his house. The latter plans to get rid of the American, and promises to send people to do the needful. However, the General forgot to do so. After a while, as the American got better, Sadao made arrangements for him to go to an island nearby, from where he could try to get off enemy boundaries.

The Enemy Main Characters in the Chapter

Dr Sadao

A Japanese doctor trained by Americans. Dedicated surgeon and doctor; kind; prejudiced against the white man.

Hana

She is the wife of Dr Sadao. They met in America, became friends and got married in Japan. Balanced woman; stands with her husband; responsible; dignified and graceful.

Tom

He is an American prisoner of war. Strong will-power.

General Takima

He is a famed Japanese war hero. He is selfish and careless.

Yumi

The servant who looked after Dr Sadao and Hana’s children. Loves children, loyal to the country, prejudiced against white men.

Domestic servants

Loyal to the country and prejudiced against white men.

The Enemy Summary Questions and Answers

Question 1.
Why didn’t Sadao want to know anything about the white man?
Answer:
He didn’t want to know any details about the white man because he didn’t want to become emotionally involved with him. The less he knew about the white man, the better it would have been for both, him and the white man.

Question 2.
How is Hana’s perspective about the white man different from Yumi’s perspective?
Answer:
Hana sees the white man as a person who is in need of help and not as a nameless enemy who should be killed, as per Yumi. This point is central to the story because it talks about how all people are similar and that they should all be treated in a humane and respectful way.

Question 3.
The theme of racism is reflected in the story. Give examples.
Answer:
The theme of racism is reflected in the story in several ways:
Because of the stress of Sadao’s father on ‘purity of race’ and traditionalism, Sadao didn’t start a relationship with Hana until he was sure that she “had been pure in her race”.

Yumi refused to touch the American or wash him before the operation. Moreover, when he left, she “cleaned the guest room thoroughly … to get the white man’s smell out of it.” Sadao has strong feelings against white people. Both Sadao and Hana felt that Americans were racists.

Question 4.
What did Dr Sadao do to help Tom escape to freedom?
Answer:
Dr Sadao knew that the wounded American sailor, Tom could be arrested any time. So he decided to help him in escaping. He decided to give his private boat with food and clothes in it. He could row it to a little island not far from the coast. Nobody lived there. In this way, he could escape to freedom.

Question 5.
Why did Dr Sadao help in the escape of the American soldier? Was it an act of treachery? Can you justify his action?
Answer:
Dr Sadao had given the information about the wounded American to the General. In turn, the General had promised to send assassins to kill him and get rid of the body. Sadao did wait for the General’s people to arrive. In the back of his mind, he knew he was a doctor whose job was to save people. Therefore, when the authority failed, Sadao decided to help the American escape. It cannot be called an act of treachery because he had been an absolute doctor and a citizen, and more importantly, a good human being. He did not want the person, he had served, to be killed.

Question 6.
Why did the messenger come to Dr Sadao? What did Hana think about it?
Answer:
Dr Sadao had been summoned to the palace to treat the ailing General. This relieved Hana, since she expected it to be a punishment for helping and providing refuge to an enemy. As the General was ill, he could require an operation any moment. Hana got very anxious to think about the consequences her family might have to face for harbouring an enemy soldier. When an official in uniform knocked her door, she thought that he might have come to apprehend her husband.

Question 7.
In what context does Hana remember General Takima? What does she infer?
Answer:
While applying medicine to the young soldier, as Sadao operated on him, Hana wondered if the stories of torture of POWs were true. She then remembered how General Takima ruthlessly beat his wife. Hana deduced that if General Takima could be so cruel to his wife, he could as well be extremely cruel to a prisoner. The deep red scars on the white man’s neck, confirmed her apprehension.

Question 8.
How did Dr Sadao ensure that the American soldier left his house but he himself remained safe and secure?
Answer:
Dr Sadao was a Japanese surgeon. After treating the American war prisoner, he informed the General as a true Japanese about the soldier. But as a doctor, he saved his life by providing him right treatment and helped him escape in the darkness of the night.

Question 9.
Why did Hana wash the wounded soldier herself?
Answer:
Hana, wife of Dr Sadao, washed the wounds of the American prisoner of war herself because the domestic servants refused to do it as he was from an enemy country. They all left the doctor’s house.

Question 10.
How does the writer indicate that Dr Sadao’s father was a very traditional and conventional man?
Answer:
Dr Sadao’s father was a very traditional and conventional man. He believed that the islands in the distance were the stepping stones to Japan’s future. He was a quiet man. He never joked or played with his son. His father was stern but cared a lot for his future. He believed in traditional and arranged marriages. He was proud of his nation and never used foreign goods. Everything in his room was made in Japan. He did not sit on a chair or sleep on a bed and rather slept on a mat.

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Journey to The End of The Earth Summary in English by Tishani Doshi

Journey to The End of The Earth by Tishani Doshi About the Author

Tishani Doshi (9 December 1975) is an Indian poet, journalist and a dancer based in Chennai. Born in Madras, India, to a Welsh mother and Gujarati father, she graduated with a Master’s degree in Creative Writing from the Johns Hopkins University. She received Eric Gregory Award in 2001. Her first poetry collection Countries of the Body won the 2006 Forward Poetry Prize for the best first collection.

Her First novel The Pleasure Seekers was published by Bloomsbury in 2010 and was long-listed for the Orange Prize in 2011 and shortlisted for The Hindu Best Fiction Award in 2010. She works as a freelance writer and worked with choreographer Chandralekha. Her poetry collection Everything Begins Elsewhere was published by Copper Canyon Press in 2013. Her most recent book of poetry, Girls Are Coming Out Of the Woods, was published by HarperCollins India in 2017. She writes a blog titled ‘Hit or Miss’ on Cricinfo, a cricket related website.

Journey to The End of The Earth Introduction to the Chapter

Before human evolution, Antarctica was part of a huge tropical landmass called the Gondwana land which flourished 500 million years ago. Geological, geographical and biological changes occurred and Antarctica separated and moved away, evolving into what it is today.

A visit to Antarctica gave Tishani Doshi a deeper understanding of the earth’s history, ecology and environment.

Journey to The End of The Earth Theme

Tishani Doshi’s visit to Antarctica, the coldest, driest and windiest continent in the world, aboard the Russian research vessel Akademik Shokalskiy, gave her a deeper understanding and a better perspective to the damage caused by human impact on earth. Antarctica, though unpopulated, has been affected and there is a growing concern for its half a million year old carbon records trapped under its ice sheets.

The ‘Students on Ice’ programme takes high school students to Antarctica to create awareness in them, the future policy makers, and helps students realise that the threat of global warming is very real.

Journey to The End of The Earth Summary in English

Humans, who have existed a mere 12,000 years, have caused tremendous damage and played havoc with nature. Population explosion, strain on available resources, carbon emissions, fossil fuels and global warming have all resulted in climatic and ecological imbalances that have affected Antarctica too.

The ‘Students on Ice’ programme, an initiative of Canadian educator, Geoff Green, takes students—the future policy makers—to Antarctica, to create awareness in them. A stark proof of global warming and environmental threats helps students attain a greater understanding of the earth’s ecosystems and biodiversity.

Journey to The End of The Earth Summary Questions and Answers

Question 1.
What was Akademic Shokalskiy? Where was it headed and why?
Answer:
Akademic Shokalskiy was a Russian research vessel which was heading towards Antarctica, the coldest, driest, windiest continent in the world to become a part of Geoff Green’s ‘Students on Ice’ programme.

Question 2.
Describe the author’s emotions when she first set foot on Antarctica.
Answer:
Tishani Doshi’s initial reaction was relief as she had travelled for over hundred hours. This was followed by wonder at Antarctica’s white landscape and uninterrupted blue horizon, its immensity, isolation and at how there could have been a time when India and Antarctica could have been a part of the same landmass.

Question 3.
How is present day Antarctica different from Gondwana?
Answer:
Gondwana was a giant amalgamated southern supercontinent. The climate was much warmer, hosting a huge variety of flora and fauna. Gondwana thrived for about 500 million years. Subsequently, when dinosaurs were wiped out and the age of mammals happened, the landmass separated into countries, shaping the globe as we know it today.

Question 4.
Why does the author say that to visit Antarctica is to be a part of history?
Answer:
It is only when you visit Antarctica that you realise all that can happen in a million years, where we have come from and where we could possibly be heading. We understand the significance of Cordilleran folds, pre-Cambrian granite shields, ozone and carbon, evolution and extinction.

Question 5.
Why does Tishani Doshi describe her two weeks’ stay in Antarctica ‘a chilling prospect’?
Answer:
Accustomed to the warm climate of South India, being in a place where ninety per cent of the earth’s total ice is stored was a chilling prospect—literally and metaphorically. It affected her metabolic and circulatory systems as well as her imagination.

Question 6.
Why does one lose all earthly perspective in Antarctica?
Answer:
The author compares it to walking into a giant ping-pong ball, devoid of any human markers. There are no trees, billboards, or buildings. The visual ranges from the microscopic to the mighty, from midges and mites to blue whales and icebergs.

Question 7.
Describe the brightness and silence that prevail in Antarctica during summer.
Answer:
Days go on and on in surreal twenty-four hour austral summer light, and an ubiquitous silence prevails, interrupted only by the occasional avalanche or calving ice-sheet.

Question 8.
Explain: ‘And for humans, the prognosis isn’t good’.
Answer:
The human civilisation has been around for a mere 12,000 years—barely a few seconds on the biological clock. Yet we have managed to etch our dominance over nature with concretisation, battling for limited resources, and unmitigated burning of fossil fuel. This has created a blanket of carbon dioxide around the world, which is increasing average global temperature.

Question 9.
Why is Antarctica a crucial element in all debates on climate change?
Answer:
Antarctica is the only place in the world that has never sustained a human population and is therefore, relatively ‘pristine’. More importantly, it holds in its ice cores half-million-year-old carbon records trapped in its layers of ice.

Question 10.
What was the objective of the ‘Students on Ice’ programme?
Answer:
The ‘Students on Ice’ programme aims to take high school students to the ends of the world. It provides them with inspiring educational opportunities which fosters in them a new understanding and respect for our planet. It offers the future generation of policy makers a life-changing experience at an age when they are ready to absorb, learn and act.

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The Tiger King Summary in English by Kalki

The Tiger King by Kalki About the Author

Kalki is the pen-name of Ramaswamy Aiyer Krishnamurthy (9 September 1899 – 5 December 1954). He was a Tamil writer, journalist, poet, critic and Freedom Movement activist. His writings include over 120 short stories, 10 novelettes, five novels, three historical romances, editorials and political writings and hundreds of films and music reviews. Kalki received the Sangeetha Kalasikhami award conferred on him by the Indian Fine Arts Society in 1953. On the occasion of the centenary celebrations, a postage stamp was released in his honour. His works were nationalised by the government of Tamil Nadu.

The Tiger King Introduction to the Chapter

The story revolves around a King whose death at the hands of a tiger had been foretold by astrologers, when he was born. He tries to reverse the fate spelled out for him and the author uses thinly-veiled satire to walk the reader through the King’s attempts, which later prove futile, in a manner that makes the readers laugh.

The Tiger King Theme

The chapter, ‘The Tiger King’ is a story about the transience of life and power. The chapter is a satire on the pride and stubborness of those people who are in power. The author in the story tells about the days of autocratic and eccentric kings. These kings fear the British as they lived under the thumb rule of British.

The Tiger King Summary in English

When Maharaja Jilani Jung Jung Bahadur was born, the astrologers had foretold that one day, the king would have to die. Suddenly, the ten-day-old prince started speaking; he told them that all those who were born would have to die one day.

He asked them to tell the manner of his death. Everyone stood stunned as an infant born just ten days ago was talking in such a manner. The chief astrologer told the Prince that he was born in the hour of the bull. As bull and tiger were enemies, therefore, his death would come from a tiger.

The Maharaja grew stronger and took to tiger hunting. He was overjoyed when he killed the first tiger. When he fold the chief astrologer about it, the chief astrologer told him that he may kill 99 tigers, but he must be careful with the hundredth one. In ten years,he killed 70 tigers. He banned the killing of tigers in Pratibandapuram. The tiger population became’extinct at Pratibandapuram. So the Maharaja married into a royal family in a state where tiger population was high. Thus, he killed 99 tigers but one was still left. There was no sign of tigers anywhere. Maharaja could not bear this any more.

He raised the land tax and also dismissed some of his men. Later, a tiger was brought for the Maharaja. Maharaja took his men for hunting. He shot the tiger but missed it. Since the tiger fainted on hearing the shot, the Maharaja did not realise that he had not killed the tiger. Maharaja’s men knew it but they feared that if they tell it to Maharaja, then they may lose their job, so they killed the tiger. But the Maharaja did not know that he still had one tiger left to kill. Free from the threat of imminent death, the Maharaja had now decided to celebrate his three-year-old son’s birthday.

He gifted him a wooden tiger. The tiger was made by an unskilled man. Its surface was rough, as a result, a splinter pierced into Maharaja’s hand. The infection spread into his whole hand and the Maharaja died.

Thus, ironically, the fateful hundredth tiger, though a wooden one, was the cause of the Maharaja’s death and proved the prediction of the astrologer correct.

The Tiger King Main Characters in the Chapter

The King

The Maharaja of Pratibandapuram was a brave, resolute, determined, courageous and a firm ruler of his state but lacked worldly wisdom. He was only ten-day-old, when he challenged the prediction of the astrologers. He grew up to be a tall, sturdy, brave and strong man. He became the King of his state at the age of twenty. He was determined to fulfil his pledge.

The Tiger King Summary Questions and Answers

Question 1.
When did the Tiger King stand in danger of losing his kingdom? How was he able to avert the danger?
Answer:
Tiger King, to disprove the astrologer’s prediction, started to hunt and kill tigers. He also banned tiger hunting by anyone except the Maharaja. Anyone who disobeyed him was punished and all his wealth and property was confiscated. A British high-ranking officer wished to hunt tigers. The Maharaja told that the officer could hunt any other animal except the tiger. The British officer’s secretary wanted the Maharaja to allow the British officer to take a photograph of himself holding a gun and standing over a tiger’s , carcass. The Maharaja refused permission because he did not want anybody to kill a tiger. At this, the Maharaja stood in danger of losing his kingdom. Hence, he offered a bribe of 50 diamond rings worth three lakhs, to the wife of the British officer. By this act, the Maharaja was able to avert the danger.

Question 2.
What did the British officer’s secretary tell the Maharaja? Why did the Maharaja refuse permission?
Answer:
The British officer’s secretary told the Maharaja to allow him to shoot the tigers in his kingdom. But the Maharaja did not allow him because he thought that the number of tigers would decrease and he would not be able to complete the desired number.

Question 3.
Why, do you think, was the Maharaja in danger of losing his throne?
Answer:
A high-ranking British official came to the state. He desired to hunt tigers. The Maharaja did not give permission. The officer sent a word to get himself photographed holding a gun beside a tiger’s dead body. However, the Maharaja refused even that. As the Maharaja had prevented a British officer from fulfilling his desire, he was in danger of losing his kingdom.

Question 4.
What led the Maharaja to start out on a tiger hunt?
Answer:
When the Maharaja of Pratibandapuram was born, an astrologer predicted that his death would be caused by a tiger. So the Maharaja started out on a tiger hunt.

Question 5.
What was the astrologer’s reaction, when the Maharaja told him that he had killed his first tiger?
Answer:
On being told that the Maharaja had killed his first tiger, the astrologer announced that he could kill ninety-nine tigers, but he must be very careful with the hundredth one.

Question 6.
How does the hundredth tiger take its final revenge upon the Tiger King?
Answer:
Few days after killing the hundredth tiger, the Maharaja gifted a wooden tiger to his son on his third birthday. A tiny splinter on the surface of the wooden tiger pierced the Maharaja’s right hand, leading to a sore, followed by the Maharaja’s death. Hence, the hundredth tiger took its final revenge upon the Tiger King.

Question 7.
Why did the Maharaja decide to get married?
Answer:
As the Maharaja occupied the throne at the age of twenty, he went on a tiger hunting campaign. He was excited to kill his first tiger, and within ten years, he killed seventy tigers. Soon, tigers became extinct in his own state. So he decided to get married to the . royal family of a state that had a large number of tigers.

Question 8.
Why was the Maharaja so anxious to kill the hundredth tiger?
Answer:
The Maharaja had killed ninety-nine tigers. If he could kill just one more tiger, he would have no fear left. Then he could give up tiger hunting altogether. Moreover, he had to be extremely careful with the last tiger.

Question 9.
What sort of hunts did the Maharaja offer to organise for the high-ranking British officer? What trait of the officer does it reveal?
Answer:
For the high-ranking British officer, the Maharaja was prepared to organise any other hunt—a boar hunt, a mouse hunt, a mosquito hunt. But a tiger hunt was impossible. The officer was a big show-off. He actually did not wish to hunt or kill the tiger himself, he just wanted to be photographed with a gun in his hand, standing over a dead tiger.

Question 10.
Why was it a celebration time for all the tigers inhabiting Pratibandapuram?
Answer:
It was a celebration time for all the tigers inhabiting Pratibandapuram because the ,Maharaja banned tiger hunting in the state. Except the Maharaja, no one was allowed to hunt tigers. It was proclaimed that if anyone was found hunting a tiger, all his property and wealth would be seized.

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Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers Summary in English by Adrienne Rich

Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers Poem by Adrienne Rich About the Poet

Adrienne C. Rich (May 16, 1929 – March 27, 2012) was born in Baltimore. She was an American poet, essayist and feminist. She was known as “one of the most widely read and influential poets of the second half of the 20th century”, and was credited with bringing “the oppression of women to the forefront of poetic discourse.” She published twenty-five volumes of poetry, three collections of essays and more than half a dozen other writings.

Rich’s prose collections are widely acclaimed for their erudite, lucid, and poetic treatment of politics, feminism, history, racism and many other topics.

Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers Introduction to the Poem

The poem, Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers’ addresses the constraints of married life that a woman experiences. The protagonist of the poem, Aunt Jennifer represents women all over the world, particularly the women in America, during the 1950s. She represents the kind of women who were caught under the oppressive hand of a patriarchal society. The poet, Adrienne Rich through the simple lines of the poem, delineates a woman’s struggles with expression and rebellion. The three quatrains (four lined stanza) expose the desolating effects of patriarchy.

In the first stanza, the poet first introduces us to Aunt Jennifer’s dreams. In the second stanza, we are introduced to the reality of Aunt Jennifer’s world. The third stanza is a narrative of the future.

Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers Theme

The poem revolves around the desires and the depressingly harsh realities of Aunt Jennifer’s existence, using sharp contrasts between the tigers and herself. The tigers appear to be in sharp contrast to her personality. The tiger’s actions are smooth, uninhibited and robust. Aunt Jennifer, on the other hand, has great trouble even to embroider because her movements are so weak. Aunt Jennifer is evidently a lonely, pained old woman plagued by anxiety. The reason for her miserable plight is the oppressive patriarchal family system, wherein the whole soul of the family is the male and it is he, who dominates the scene. She creates an alternative world of freedom—a world that she longs for.

Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers Summary in English

In this feminist poem, which is critical of the male world, Aunt Jennifer creates an alternate world of freedom in her art. The tigers of Aunt Jennifer’s stitchings are representative of her desire of a free spirit, emphasising the fact that she pines for freedom from her burdensome husband.

The first stanza opens with Aunt Jennifer’s visual tapestry of tigers who are fearless of their environment. “Bright topaz denizens of a world of green” – evoke an image that these tigers are unafraid of other beings in the jungle. Here, ‘bright’ signifies their powerful and radiant persona. There is a sense of certainty and confidence in the way these tigers move as can be seen in the line – “They pace in sleek chivalric certainty”.

In the second stanza, the reality of Aunt Jennifer is revealed as she is feeble, weak and enslaved, very much the opposite of the tigers she was knitting. Her physical and mental trauma is depicted in the line – “find even the ivory needle hard to pull”. Even though a wedding ring doesn’t weigh much, “the massive weight of uncle’s wedding band, sits heavily upon Aunt Jennifer’s hand” signifies the amount of dominance her husband has exercised over her. This also means that her inner free spirit has been jailed by the patriarchal society.

The last stanza starts on a creepy note about Aunt Jennifer’s death. Even her death wouldn’t free her from the ordeals she went through which can be seen in “When Aunt is dead, her terrified hands will lie still ringed with ordeals she was mastered by”. But her art work which was her escape route or in a way, her inner sense of freedom, will stay forever, proud and unafraid.

Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers Summary Reference-to-Context Questions

Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.

1. Aunt Jennifer’s tigers prance across a screen,
Bright topaz denizens of a world of green.
They do not fear the men beneath the tree;
They pace in sleek chivalric certainty.

a. How are Aunt Jennifer’s tigers described?
Answer:
They are chivalric, brave and fearless. They have self-confidence.

b. Why are they described as denizens of a world of green?
Answer:
It means the tigers are in their habitat and they are known for their strength and attitude.

c. Why are they not afraid of the men?
Answer:
They are not afraid of the men because they are strong, brave and fearless.

d. Mention the poetic device used in the last line.
Answer:
Alliteration e.g., ‘chivalric certainty’

2. Aunt Jennifer’s fingers fluttering through her wool
Find even the ivory needle hard to pull.
The massive weight of Uncle’s wedding band
Sits heavily upon Aunt Jennifer’s hand.

a. What does the first line of this extract tell us about Aunt Jennifer?
Answer:
Aunt Jennifer feels so nervous, fearful and terrified of her male counterpart that even while weaving the tapestry, her hands shake and flutter. She is a victim of gender oppression at the hands of her husband.

b. Why is it so hard for her to pull the ivory needle?
Answer:
She finds it very hard to pull a light-weight ivory needle because while she is creating her work of art, which is a creation of her desires and feelings, she feels fearful of the uncle. She finds it more hard to pull because of the mental suppression and not because of physical weakness.

c. Explain, ‘massive weight of Uncle’s wedding band’?
Answer:
This expression is symbolic of male authority and power. Matrimony seems to bind the woman physically as well as mentally. The wedding band was a burden for her as she was not getting enough freedom to express herself because of the domestic responsibilities . and restrictions put on her as a woman.

d. What is suggested in the third line of the extract?
Answer:
It suggests the weight of the relationship. The image is suggestive and the wedding band is symbolic of an unbreakable bond that weighs her down.

3. When Aunt is dead, her terrified hands will lie
Still ringed with ordeals she was mastered by.
The tigers in the panel that she made
Will go on prancing, proud and unafraid.

a. Why are Aunt Jennifer’s hands ‘terrified’?
Answer:
Aunt Jennifer has been enslaved by the wedding ring. After undergoing the harsh and bitter experiences of her married life, she feels weak and shaken.

b. What is Aunt Jennifer’s death symbolic of? Is the society anyway affected by her death?
Answer:
Her death is symbolic of her complete submission to the suppression. The male-dominated society seems to show no concern for Aunt Jennifer’s suffering, or even her death. The society seems in no way affected by it.

c. What does ‘ringed with ordeals’ imply?
Answer:
‘Ringed with ordeals’ refers to the wedding band. Ring here symbolises handcuff which enslaves her all her life and makes her a frightened and scared soul.

d. How will the tigers behave after her death?
Answer:
The tigers will go on prancing proud and unafraid.

We have decided to create the most comprehensive English Summary that will help students with learning and understanding. In this article, we are explaining a roadside stand summary.

A Roadside Stand Summary in English by Robert Frost

A Roadside Stand Poem by Robert Frost About the Poet

One of the America’s foremost poets of the twentieth century, Robert Frost was born in San Francisco and lived there till the age of eleven. When he was just eleven, he moved to England. In 1911, due to some circumstances, he sold his farm in Derry, New Hampshire and moved with his family to England. Here, he met and received the support of Ezra Pound.

Frost received four Pulitzer prizes and Prizes like Bollinger Poetry Prize (1963). Robert Frost’s (1874¬1963) best works include ‘Birches’, ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’, ‘Mending Walls’, and ‘The Road Not Taken’.

A Roadside Stand Introduction to the Poem

Robert Lee Frost was an American poet who lived from 1874 to 1963. His simple style of writing, I realistic depiction of rural life and constant reference to nature made him one of the most influential : poets in American history. His most famous poems include ‘Mending Wall’, ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’ and ‘Birches’.He received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry four times.

A Roadside Stand Theme

The poem, ‘The Roadside Stand’ is Robert Frost’s scathing criticism of an unequal society where there is a huge division between the rich and the poor, the haves and the have-nots, owing to the inequitous distribution of wealth. The poem depicts, with clarity, the plight of the poor and the complex dynamics of their existence. It also focuses on the unfortunate fact that the unequal progress and development between cities and villages have led to the feelings of distress and unhappiness in the rural people.

A Roadside Stand Summary in English

The poem “A Roadside Stand”, composed by Robert Frost is about a farmer who puts a little new shed in front of his house on the edge of a road. Several thousands of cars speed past it. He desires to sell wild berries, squash and other products. He does not like charity. He tries to sell his products for money. He believes that money can give him a better lifestyle as he saw in the movies. However, his hopes are never fulfilled. People in cars go past without even giving a cursory look at his stall. And if few of them happen to look at it, they see how the letters N and S had been turned wrong. They believe that such badly painted signs spoil the beauty of the countryside.

Nevertheless, a few cars did stop. One of them desired to take a U-turn. It came into the farmer’s yard and spoiled the grass. Another car stopped to know the way. And one of them stopped as it needed petrol, though it was quite evident that the farmer did not sell petrol.

The poor village people had little earning. They have not seen much money. They lead a life of poverty. It is known that some good-doers plan to remove their poverty. They aimed to buy their property on the roadside to build theatres and stores. They plan to shift the villagers into the village huddled together. They wished to teach them the ways that could change their good and healthy habits. They even aimed to teach them to sleep during day time. The ‘greedy good-doers’ and ‘beneficent beasts of prey’ desired to force the benefits on the poor village people and befool them.

The poet feels quite miserable at the pitiable sufferings of the poor village folk. He even had a childish desire for all the poor to be done away with at one stroke to end their pain. But he knew that it is childish and vain. So, he desires that someone relieves him of his pain by killing him.

A Roadside Stand Summary Reference-to-Context Questions

Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.

1. The little old house was out with a little new shed
In front at the edge of the road where the traffic sped,
A roadside stand that too pathetically pled,

a. Where had the little new shed been put up and why ?
Answer:
A poor farmer had put up the shed at the edge of the road.

b. What imagery does the first line create?
Answer:
It creates the imagery of an impoverished farmer’s home and a roadside stand that he has set up.

c. Where is the shed set up?
Answer:
“file little new shed is set up in front of his house which is on the edge of the road.

d. What is the poetic device used in the third line?
Answer:
Personification has been used in the third line. The shed has been personified. It pleads pathetically for some extra cash flow.

2. It would not be fair to say for a dole of bread,
But for some of the money, the cash, whose flow supports
The flower of cities from sinking and withering faint.

a. Why does the peasant not want bread?
Answer:
The poet stresses that the peasant does not want bread or the basic amenities of life but a source of alternate income, apart from his trade.

b. What does the peasant yearn for?
Answer:
The peasant yearns for some of the city money to sustain him better, and liberate him from his hand-to-mouth existence.

c. How does money sustain cities?
Answer:
Money in the cities, always in excess, brings luxurious benefits.

d. Explain: ‘flower of cities’.
Answer:
This is a metaphor. Just as flowers are kept from withering with extra care and nurturing, similarly, extra cash flow helps cities to bloom and flourish.

3. The polished traffic passed with a mind ahead,
Or if ever aside a moment, then out of sorts
At having the landscape marred with the artless paint

a. Explain the poetic device in ‘The polished traffic’.
Answer:
‘The polished traffic’ is a transferred epithet that depicts the sophisticated, urban city- dwellers.

b. Why are their minds ahead?
Answer:
The urban rich have their minds preoccupied with their own lives and its related problems.

c. How do they react to the presence of the stand?
Answer:
They are indifferent to the presence of the roadside stand, if ever they chance to look at it.

d. Why do they feel out of sorts?
Answer:
The presence of the roadside stand annoys them as they feel that it mars the beauty of the landscape.

4. Of signs that with N turned wrong and S turned wrong
Offered for sale wild berries in wooden quarts,
Or crook-necked golden squash with silver warts,
Or beauty rest in a beautiful mountain scene,

a. What do N and S turned wrong symbolise?
Answer:
These inelegantly painted signposts and other rustic signs are a source of annoyance to the urban rich.

b. What does the stand sell?
Answer:
It sells some home-grown produce like wild berries, crook-necked golden squash with silver warts and amateur paintings of the mountain scene.

c. Explain: ‘beauty rest in a mountain scene’.
Answer:
This probably refers to a scenic painting made by the inhabitants of the roadside stand, to sell to the rich people.

d. What qualities of the offered articles make them unfit for sale?
Answer:
The articles for sale at the roadside stand are wild and lack the polish of similar articles available in the cities. Thus, they hold no appeal for the urban rich who drive past.

5. You have the money, but if you want to be mean,
Why keep your money (this crossly) and go along.
The hurt to the scenery wouldn’t be my complaint
So much as the trusting sorrow of what is unsaid:

a. How do the rich behave meanly with the poor?
Answer:
When the rich city people refuse to buy anything from the roadside stand, the poor peasant feel dejected and angry. They ask the city men to keep all their money with themselves and leave.

b. Explain, ‘trusting sorrow’.
Answer:
‘Trusting sorrow’ is a metaphor that refers to the fact that the peasants set up their shed trusting that their wares will attract the city folks to buy their products and thus, provide additional income. However, they are filled with sorrow when no one shows interest.

c. What is the poet’s complaint?
Answer:
The rich have hollow complaints such as hurt to the scenery. They are unable to understand the concerns of the poor and their core level struggles.

d. What is ‘left unsaid’?
Answer:
The poor wait in hope expecting the rich to fulfill their promises. Gradually, their hopes give way to the bitter realisation that the promises of the rich are not meant to be fulfilled.

6. Here far from the city we make our roadside stand
And ask for some city money to feel in hand
To try if it will not make our being expand,
And give us the life of the moving-pictures’ promise
That the party in power is said to be keeping from us.

a. What is ‘city money’?
Answer:
Using light satire, Robert Frost criticises the political party in power for preventing the peasants from enjoying the lifestyle like that of the city-dwellers.

b. What do the peasants want from the rich?
Answer:
The poet stresses that the peasants want the generosity of the rich. They want promises fulfilled in order to have some extra cash to alleviate their suffering as promised by movies and political parties.

C. Why is feeling money in hand important?
Answer:
it is important for the farmers to have the promised money in hand, instead of the empty and false promises of the politicians.

d. Explain: ‘our being expand’.
Answer:
The extra inflow of cash would help improve the quality of the lives of the poor peasants.

7. It is in the news that all these pitiful kin
Are to be bought out and mercifully gathered in
To live in villages, next to the theatre and the store,
Where they won’t have to think for themselves anymore,

a. Who are the ‘pitiful kin’?
Answer:
Pitiful kin refers to the poor farmers living in rustic farmlands.

b. Who is buying them out and why?
Answer:
Real estate agents buy them out and force farmers from villages to cities, promising riches. It benefits them temporarily, but the bulk of the benefit goes to these unscrupulous agents.

c. What is the good news for the poor?
Answer:
The good news for the poor is that the government is planning to relocate them, as part of a welfare scheme for the poor.

d. Why are they to be placed next to the theatre and the stores?
Answer:
Cunning and manipulative politicians relocate them next to the theatre and the stores to make them dependent and unable to think for themselves.

8. While greedy good-doers, beneficent beasts of prey,
Swarm over their lives enforcing benefits
That are calculated to soothe them out of their wits,
And by teaching them how to sleep they sleep all day,
Destroy their sleeping at night the ancient way.

a. Explain: ‘greedy good-doers, beneficent beasts of prey’.
Answer:
Greedy good-doers are apparent benefactors but actually ‘beasts of prey’ exploit the innocent village folk by giving them a short term sense of security

b. Who are these people?
Answer:
The greedy good-doers and beneficient beasts are the civic authorities, real estate agents who make the poor complacent and lull them into a false sense of security.

c. Name the poetic devices used in the first line.
Answer:
‘Greedy good-doers’ and ‘beneficent beasts of prey’ are both oxymorons. Alliteration has also been used in the first line.

d. How do ‘they’ destroy the poor?
Answer:
The brokers and estate agents promise farmers’ benefits, so that the farmers will not have to think for themselves as they will not be needy. Now sluggish, farmers will sleep all day, thereby losing their sleep by night.

9. Sometimes I feel myself I can hardly bear
The thought of so much childish longing in vain,
The sadness that lurks near the open window there,
That waits all day in almost open prayer
For the squeal of brakes, the sound of a stopping car,

a. What can the poet not bear?
Answer:
The interminable wait of the farmer for prospective customers, distresses the poet.

b. What is ‘childish longing’? Why is it in vain?
Answer:
The poor people’s futile expectation for city money has been compared to children longing for things beyond their reach. It is in vain as the rich are too self-absorbed and hard-hearted to help them.

c. Explain the poetic device used in the third line.
Answer:
Sadness has been personified, as it lies in wait, near the open window, desperately praying for a customer to appear.

d. What does it pray for?
Answer:
The personification is sustained as sadness prays for a city-dweller to stop by, and at least, enquire about the prices of the farmer’s wares.

10. Of all the thousand selfish cars that pass,
Just one to enquire what a farmer’s prices are.
And one did stop, but only to plow up grass
In using the yard to back and turn around;
And another to ask the way to where it was bound;
And another to ask could they sell it a gallon of gas
They couldn’t (this crossly); they had none, didn’t it see?

a. Explain: ‘selfish cars’.
Answer:
This is a transferred epithet. The people sitting in the cars are selfish as no one has charity as motive as they stop by.

b. Name the reasons for which the cars stop occasionally.
Answer:
The cars stop either to reverse, or to ask for directions or to ask if they could buy a gallon of gas.

c. What is the queer demand of the city folk?
Answer:
The insensitive city people ask if the roadside stand sold a gallon of gas, knowing fully well that gas was well beyond their means.

d. What makes the people at the roadside stand ‘cross’?
Answer:
With every passing car that stops, the farmer’s hope rises, only to be disappointed. None of them seem to want what he has to offer. This makes the people at the roadside stand cross.

11. No, in country money, the country scale of gain
The requisite lift of spirit has never been found,
Or so the voice of the country seems to complain,

a. What is country money?
Answer:
Country money is the meagre income and the meagre profit that the poor farmers make. In no way does it compare with the affluence of the rich in cities.

b. How has the country scale of gain helped the farmers?
Answer:
It has not freed them from their poverty. It has not provided them with the extra cash that is required to improve the quality of their lives.

c. How does money provide ‘the requisite lift of spirit’?
Answer:
Money is a very important factor in modern living. It provides confidence and gives an additional lift to one’s spirit.

d. What is the complaint of the villagers?
Answer:
No matter how hard the villagers try, they can never make as much money as their counterparts in the city. Thus, they never have the money to enjoy the luxuries that the city people have.

12. I can’t help owning the great relief it would be
To put these people at one stroke out of their pain.
And then next day as I come back into the sane,
I wonder how I should like you to come to me
And offer to put me gently out of my pain.

a. What kind of relief does the poet visualise for the poor?
Answer:
Frustrated by the helplessness of the villagers, Frost offers to end the lives of the poor at one stroke and liberate them from their grief and pain.

b. What makes him change his mind?
Answer:
Thankfully, common sense prevails before he has taken the thought too far. Sanity returns to him the day after he has had this thought.

c. What is the truth that he realises?
Answer:
When Frost wonders how he might feel when someone found him in pain and decided that death was the best option for him, he realises the futility of his earlier thought.

d. What is the poet’s pain?
Answer:
The poet’s pain is the iniquitous divide between the rich and the poor, the interminable wait that the poor must endure for their misery to be addressed and their suffering to end.